Dry-cleaning apparatus.



E. Y. WHITE.

DRY CLEANING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 00w. 22, 1909.

1 Q38 46 8 Patented Sept. 10,1912.

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E. Y. WHITE. DRY CLEANING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 22; 1909.

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tented Sept. 10, 1912.

Application filed October 22, 1909. Serial No. 528,985.

" To all whom it may; concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD Y.v WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Antonio, in the county of Bexar and State of 5 Texas, have invented certain new and u :eful Improvements in Dry-Cleaning Apparatus, of-which the following is a specification.

Among the principal objects of the invention are to reduce to a minimum the amount of cleansing fluid employed; to provide an efilcient cleansing and scrubbing action by simple means; and to introduce certain improved features ofconstruction which will be described.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter pointed out so faras .is-necessary in connection with a do tailed descri tion of the accompanying drawing whidh illustrates an exemplifying structure in which the invention is embodied.

Figure 1 is a side elevation'of a'machine embodying the invention with the casing cover open to disclose the cylinders, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine with the upper half of the casing removed, one of the cylinders being shown in longitudinal cross-section;

The lower half of the casing divided .into two sections desi nated'by the reference character 1. Eac of these sections is substantially V-shaped in longitudinal section, but as in the, specific construction shown the sloping sides 2 of. the casing'may be connected through a .short cylindrical portion 3. Thebottom sections'2 are connected by means of the semi-circular disks or headers 4 and bolts 5. At the center of the disks is formed a semi-cylindrical hear conform to the contour of the lower sec- 45 tions 1, and with the upper central cylindrical portion 10 connecting the portions 9. In the cylindrical central portion is a rotatable sliding door 11 'vin access to the interior .of the casing an to the cylinders. The upper section 8 of the casing is removably bolted to the lower half and in the outer ends of the upper section are half-bearings 12 correspondln to the lower half-bearings 7 carried by the ower casing sections.

The V-shape of the bottom sections 1 divides thecasing into two parts. At the bottom of each the sections is connected ag lpe 13 and valve, 14 for introducing and ischarging the cleansing compound. The space between the ll-shaped adjacent sides o1 the bottom casing sections where they join the upper section of the. casing is bridg d by plate 15' which are bolted under the to section.

Wit in the casing are the cylinders 16 which may be substantially identical in con struction. The body of the hollow c linders may he of sheet co per or other sui able material and the cylin ers are shaped to approximately conform to the shape of the bottom cas1 sections in one of which each of the cylin ers revolves. That is, the cylh inder has a \l-shaped longitudinal section .with convergent sldes 17 which may be joined at the periphery b the short cylin-' drical portion 18. The si es of the cylinder are provided with interior annular corrugations 19, and these corrugations may con- Y veniently be formed by crimping the mate'- ri'al of the cylinder so as to form exterior'annular recess sw. In another construction the corrugations 19 may consist of cleats fastened to the inside of the cylinder walls.

The cylindrical section 18 of the c linder is provided with a suitable number 0 perforations 21, and within each cylinder at the periphery is a suitable number of blades or paddles 22.

The cylinders are supported at the center of the machine by a journal 23 resting in the bearing 6. The journal is provided at each end wlth the flange 24 bolted to the end of the adiacent cylinder. At the outer ends the cylinders are supported by 'ournals 25 rovided with flan es 26 to whic the cyliners are bolted. T e edges 40 of flanges 24 and 26 extend considerably outward beyond the adjacent face of the cylinders. By this means anpl cleansing fluid running down the sides of t e cylinders drops ofl the edges of the flanges back into the casingwithout coming into contact with the bearmgs This is important because if the gasolene is allowed to have I access to the bearin washes out the lubricant allowing the bearings to run dry. The exterior recesses 20 in the cylinders also aid in protecting the bearit quicklv ings because fluid running down the faces of the cylinders is cau ht in these recesses and so returned to the ower portion of the casing. The cylinders are rotated by pulleys 28 and gearing 29 connected to one of the journals 25. On their adjacent faces the cylinders are provided with doors 30 which slide in guides 31.

The casings of dry cleaning machines have heretofore been made cylindrical so that a large quantity of cleanslng fluid has been necessarily employed. The fluid ele ment of the cleansing compound is principally gasolene and is therefore quite expensive. By making the lower part of my casing in V-shape I am able to use a small amount of cleansing fluid and at the same time accomplish equally good results.

To charge the machine a quantity of cleansingiiuid is put in each half of the casing. Usually gasolene mixed with soap is put in one sectlon and clear gasolene in the other. The clothes are then placed in the drum in the cleansing section of the casing and the drums are rotated. The blades or paddles 22 insure that the clothes are carried around in the drum until they approach the top of it. The clothes then drop to the bottom of the drum and as they fall are released from their compact condition caused by the 'wedging effect of the V-shaped sides and open out, enabling the fabric to assume new ositions at every rotation. As the fabrics all to the bottom of the drum the encounter the corrugations 19 and are rub ed by the corrugations as they are compressed together again at the bottom by the wedging effect of the V-shaped sides.- The cleansin fluid is continuously circulated .throug the drum through perforations 21 by the stirring.

action of the drum and its paddles. When the clothes have been sufliciently cleansed in the first drum they are removed and submitted to the rinsing action of clear gasolene' in the second drum, and at the same time a new batch of garments may be laced in the first drum and the process continued indefinitely. Because of the small amount of fluid which it is necessary to use in my machine I obtain economical results greatly superior to anything that has heretofore been accomplished to my knowledge.

shaped in cross section, a similarly shaped perforated drum mounted in bearings in the casing, said drum having a series of annular draining grooves on the outer surface thereof, said outer grooves forming inner annular rubbing ridges, and a plurality of blades or paddles on the inner periphery of the drum.

2. In a cleansing. apparatus, the combination of a casing substantially diamond shaped in cross section, a similarly shaped perforated drum mounted in bearings in the casing, said drum having a series .of annular draining grooves 011 the outer surface thereof, said outer grooves forming inner annular rubbing ridges, and annular flanges at both ends of the drum to prevent the cleansing material from-gaining access to the bearings.

3. In a cleansing apparatus, thecombination of a pair of casings substantially diamond-shaped in cross section, a pair of similarly shaped perforated drums mounted in bearings in the casings, said drums having series of annular draining grooves on the outer surfaces thereof, said outer grooves forming inner annular rubbing,

ridges, and said drums being connected to rotate together in such a manner that the operations of cleaning and rinsing fabrics may be simultaneously and continuously carried on.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD Y. WHITE.

Witnesses P. LUNA, Fnnonmcx MURPHY. 

